Besides liposuction, what's the best, fastest, surest way to lose inches off the waist? I know "they" say you can't really target weight loss to specific areas of the body, but surely there must be some tried & true methods to slim the abdominal area I'm doing crunches, push-ups and running 1.5 miles 3 times a week, all geared towards my PT test that is required by the AF Reserves, but my waist is just being stubborn. I need to take 2-3 inches off asap....who knows the secret

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Every person burns fat differently and from different areas of their body first. It's not unusual for the abs/waist to be the last place to visibly lose fat. In order to accomplish your goal, you need to burn fat. Calories in minus calories burned. It's simple. All the crunches and push-ups in the world won't help you unless you have a comprehensive plan that takes into account your diet also. Monitor your diet - eat 1500 calories broken up in to 5 meals throughout the day. You'll lose a couple pounds a week. If you start weight training with your cardio then you'll lose more. With the exception of lipo, there's no short-term solution when it comes to fat loss.

Well Martha and Macdaddy said pretty much what I would have. If you look at people with rock hard abs they virtually have no other body fat. I guess it must be the hardest part of the body to get rid of fat from.

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Rich
San Francisco AreaESR'd March 2010. FIRE'd January 2011.

As if you didn't know..If the above message contains medical content, it's NOT intended as advice, and may not be accurate, applicable or sufficient. Don't rely on it for any purpose. Consult your own doctor for all medical advice.

martyb--Why don't you go to the fitness center on base? Anybody one here would only be able to give you general advice, like has already been given. The fitness center has personal trainers willing to work with you to set up a program, including diet changes. We had one set up a program for our squadron when I was in designed specifically for our mission. It work very well, for those who put it into use.

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You don't want to work. You want to live like a king, but the big bad world don't owe you a thing. Get over it--The Eagles

martyb--Why don't you go to the fitness center on base? Anybody one here would only be able to give you general advice, like has already been given. The fitness center has personal trainers willing to work with you to set up a program, including diet changes. We had one set up a program for our squadron when I was in designed specifically for our mission. It work very well, for those who put it into use.

I already am going to the fitness center, that's where I do my running. I reckon I already knew the answer, I was just hoping for a magic secret from you wise sages lol! I haven't availed myself of any of the fitness gurus at the center yet though, been just working on my own. I guess it's time to take that next step and get some help. Looks like it's gonna be harder than I thought. For some strange reason, it's tougher and progress is slower than when I was in my early thirties! Thanks for the input, folks.

__________________“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”-John F. Kennedy

“Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?” - Edgar Bergen

if you are not in very great shape, working out on a couple of abdominal machines four days a week at the gym will result in compliments and people thinking that you lost weight after maybe a month or two. The fat is still there, but you are able to suck it in better.

Worked for me....

Meanwhile, you can work on losing the weight because if there is less to suck in, you'll look even better!

__________________Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities.

A trainer should be able to help you. There's nothing magic, but often just doing different things (and a trainer will make suggestions) kind of shocks your body into working harder and burning more calories for longer. If you do the same old things all the time you get very efficient at them.
I got visible results in a month (just four sessions with a trainer), even though my time spent working out each day did not increase.

Well Martha and Macdaddy said pretty much what I would have. If you look at people with rock hard abs they virtually have no other body fat. I guess it must be the hardest part of the body to get rid of fat from.

The one thing that can happen... rock hard abs under a nice layer of fat.... if you only do crunches etc.. you work your ab MUSCLES, but that does not burn fat...

what's the best, fastest, surest way to lose inches off the waist? I know "they" say you can't really target weight loss to specific areas of the body, but surely there must be some tried & true methods to slim the abdominal area

Burn more calories than you consume. Works like magic.

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Dreams Worth Dreaming are Dreams Worth Planning For. I Spent a Career Planning for Early Retirement.

Not to be discouraging but i'm not sure that's always true. I've been on vacation for two weeks and have taken in over 4000 calories per day on average and have done zero exercise of any kind and I still lost 3 pounds. At 6'6" and 156 pounds I can't seem to gain a pound no matter what I do so I assume that there are probably people who are the exact opposite.

I read this term "abdominal fat" and I wonder what it refers to. Does it mean only intra-abdominal fat, or subcutaneous fat that happens to be placed on the abdominal area, or both?

Ha

Good question and interestingly it seems to refer primarily to subcutaneous fat (as far as metabolic activity and risk go). No one knows why, but intra-abdominal fat is actually less dangerous, ounce for ounce.

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Rich
San Francisco AreaESR'd March 2010. FIRE'd January 2011.

As if you didn't know..If the above message contains medical content, it's NOT intended as advice, and may not be accurate, applicable or sufficient. Don't rely on it for any purpose. Consult your own doctor for all medical advice.

Not to be discouraging but i'm not sure that's always true. I've been on vacation for two weeks and have taken in over 4000 calories per day on average and have done zero exercise of any kind and I still lost 3 pounds. At 6'6" and 156 pounds I can't seem to gain a pound no matter what I do so I assume that there are probably people who are the exact opposite.

I hate to disagree, but the theory is very simple. If you take in more calories than you expend you will gain weight, if you take in less than you expend you will lose weight, it is that simple. You said you took in on average 4000 per day. With your build, assuming no medical issues, I would presume you have a very fast metabolism. I was the same way when younger, it seemed I could eat everything and not gain any weight. When I became interested in gaining muscle, I started monitoring everything I ate and everything I did and found excess energy usage. I was surprised how much unnecessary movment I had in my normal day to day activities. I cut that out and increased caloires to well over 5000 per day and low and behold my muscle mass and weight went up.

There are generally three body types and each type has their issues with weight. While one body type, like yours, seems to have difficulty gaining weight others have more trouble losing weight, but it can be done. It just takes persistance, desire, and knowledge, assuming no medical problems.

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You don't want to work. You want to live like a king, but the big bad world don't owe you a thing. Get over it--The Eagles

Here's an old recruiting trick the active duty guys would use....if you are close for measurement purposes (only!)....not sure if urban legend, but the folks in MI swore by it for getting their borderline guys through MEPS: baste your midsection (where they measure) in bengay, then wrap with plastic wrap...several hours before you are schueduled to be taped. This is only a temporary fix!

(for you civilians, we in the military if over the weight for our height on the "charts" (specific for each branch) then they measure you (neck, waist, hips, abdomen, wrist - the measurements also vary by branch of service) and tally the numbers to check your "bodyfat" percentage. No problem if calculated within the limits. Micromanaged weight/workout programs, negative remarks on evaluations, and possible administrative discharge if "out of round" for too long)

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